What have you done for me lately?

Building your business is a lot of work... and depending on the business it can be anywhere from a bit of a headache to a gut-wrenching, utterly exhausting and sometimes disasterous experience. Every business is different - even the cookie cutter franchise businesses are unique - and why - because people are unique. We each do things a little different, even when given the same task.

Case in point - networking. You know you need to do it, you read all the books, do all the right things... but now what? You see others gaining... and you keep giving. You may ask yourself, "Networking... what have you done for me lately?"

You start pulling back, questioning the true value.

Here's the honest truth, you get out what you put into it... but sometimes it takes time! Sometimes it takes a long time. A REALLY long time.

The solution, network more--never stop, and don't expect immediate pay-back. Get better at networking, meet more people, cultivate the contacts that you have, act as a conduit for others to network. Learn to enjoy the networking for the satifaction of helping others, the pride in seeing your contacts succeed, the friendships that form. And learn that sometimes "paying it forward" has rewards... later.

Meghan Wier -